The stock market dropped 9.5 percent on Thursday due to fears of the coronavirus, the sharpest decline since the Black Monday crash of 1987.
The plunge occurred despite President Trump’s public address on the coronavirus outbreak, where he issued a ban on the entry from most European countries to the United States, per The New York Times. The market halted trading for the second time this week to curb the freefall.
The market saw an uptick following the Federal Reserve’s offer of at least $1.5 trillion in loans to banks to ease operations in financial markets.
“These changes are being made to address highly unusual disruptions in Treasury financing markets associated with the coronavirus outbreak,” the New York Fed said in a statement.
However, sales resumed again in mid-afternoon.
Stock sales have been rampant as investors grow increasingly worried by the federal government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. While the Trump administration has promised financial aid to infected workers, the White House has been slow to move forward on a joint effort with Congress.